Torquay earned themselves a valuable three points at Crawley this afternoon with goals from Lee Mansell, Mark Ellis and Tim Sills.

A match that United should have won by more than one goal finished with the visitors under severe pressure but they didn't crumble as some sides might have done and showed how to battle for an what may prove an important result.

Simon Rayner returned to the bench but Lee Phillips and Tony Bedeau didn't make the trip to Sussex as they hadn't shrugged off their respective injuries. Steve Woods couldn't force his way into an unchanged starting line-up from last weeks Yeovil cup match. Kevin Nicholson was given the captains armband for the first time.

This was going to be a tough match for United but they got off to a perfect start with a goal after only six minutes. Lee Mansell has not been shy in shooting at goal in recent matches and after a mistake from Crawley skipper Thompson, who misplaced a pass, Elliot Benyon fed the ball to Lee Mansell who beat ex-Gull Ashley Bayes with a shot into the top left hand of the goal. If that goal raised Crawley boss Steve Evans' blood pressure, what happened six minutes later was to nearly send him over the edge. Chris Robertson pushed forward and centred an inviting ball into the penalty area which was met by Benyon, his header forced a corner. Lee Mansell bent the ensuing corner in from the left and Mark Ellis couldn't quite believe his luck as he found himself unmarked two yards out with the goal at his mercy, he didn't need to do anything more than connect his head with the ball and put United two up after less than a quarter of an hour.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Torquay could have scored 5 or 6 goals during the first half, Danny Stevens could have bagged himself another brace following last weeks heroics but his shooting boots weren't quite on the mark today. He had a couple of gilt edged chances to increase the lead and, unbeknown to him, any extra goals would have made the last twenty minutes of the match a bit easier to cope with! United were looking for more goals, as they always do, and the third was to come near the end of the half. Ashley Bayes did well to tip a Chris Zebroski shot wide after it looked like the winger had scored another individual effort, Kevin Nicholson produced yet another pinpoint dead ball kick from the corner which was well met by Tim Sills who got across the near post ahead of his marker. Crawley weren't without their moments, Carayol was giving Chris Robertson plenty to think about but ultimately the home side were lucky to go in just three goals down.

The Crawley dressing room was probably not the place to be at half-time. There could only be one reaction in the second half from the home team and that was a hugely improved performance. United could have expected an onslaught but would have been confident of soaking up whatever was thrown at them. The worst thing that could happen was an early goal for Crawley, A poor ball by Chris Todd was collected by Vieira who checked back inside Chris Robertson and, although Martin Rice did well to get a hand to the ball, scored with Crawley's first attempt on target in the match. United's possession in this game was always superiors to Crawley's and a fourth or even fifth goal was looking as likely as a second for the home team.